Says no changes were made in EHTPL board
Dubai-based Emaar Properties has said that the board of Emaar Hills Township Private Limited (EHTPL) has not been changed in a bid to end the stalemate with Andra Pradesh state government.
"There are no changes to the board of directors of Emaar Hills Township Pvt Ltd, and as a matter of policy we do not respond to market rumours or speculation," an Emaar spokesperson told Emirates 24/7.
EHTPL is a joint venture formed between Emaar and Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) to develop an integrated golf course and township in Manikonda, a commercial suburb in Hyderabad.
Earlier, Indian media reports said Emaar had eased out its Indian partner, Emaar MGF, from the controversial project. The move, Deccan Chronicle said, was seen as an attempt by the real estate major to set the stage for an amicable settlement with the state government and to end the stalemate that brought the project to a grinding halt.
The newspaper quoting unnamed sources said that the three representatives of Emaar MGF, including the CEO Srikanth Joshi, were removed from the board of directors of the EHTPL.
The sources were also quoted as saying that the parent group's Chief Executive Officer Isaam Galadari and Chief Financial Officer Amit Jain had flown to Hyderabad to attend the EHTPL board meetings twice in the recent past.
Emaar has told the state government that it is willing to give back 26 per cent of the land, but put a rider that the offer will be subject to the final outcome of the ongoing legal tussle. APIIC wants the offer to be unconditional.
Joshi had told earlier that Emaar and Emaar MGF had invested Rs9 billion in the project including Rs1.5 billion in the golf course and Rs1 billion in Hyderabad International Convention Centre and Novotel Hotel.
© Emirates 24|7 2011
